What''s left in the wake of South Africas abandoned gold
#0183;#32;In 2013, mining companies produced 562,000 times as much waste as gold, according to the South African Chamber of Mines. A decade before, that same ratio was less than half as large, at 212,000to1. Mining operations are generating increased waste because South Africas gold is running out, and the remaining resource only can be found several miles below ground.